By It’s another example of how Gavin Newsom has zero care for the country, only his presidential ambitions. As economic uncertainty deepens in the wake of President Trump’s sweeping new tariffs, the California governor instructed his state’s trade officials to initiate direct talks with foreign governments hit by the federal policy—signaling his intent to carve out his own foreign policy.
In doing so, Newsom is testing the boundaries of state-level diplomacy, writes The Daily Caller, effectively positioning California as a counterweight to Washington’s volatile approach to trade. The governor confirmed he has authorized California’s international trade representatives to push for exemptions on goods produced within the state, casting California as a stable and credible trading partner in contrast to the erratic policy shifts coming from the White House.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs do not represent all Americans—particularly not the ones I represent in the fifth-largest economy in the world,” Newsom said. He framed the state as a “committed, stable trading partner” that values global cooperation without compromising domestic industry.
Remember, these are the same people who constantly claim Donald Trump is a threat to democracy and won’t follow the Constitution.
Newsom’s remarks came just hours after the Trump administration unveiled its “Liberation Day” tariff package, a sweeping set of duties targeting imports from China, the European Union, South Korea, and India. The president defended the move as a long-overdue correction to what he called decades of “unfair trade deals.”
“This was a patient that was very sick,” Trump said Thursday. “It went through an operation on Liberation Day. And it’s going to be a booming country.”
Global reaction was immediate. China imposed a 34% retaliatory tariff on all U.S. exports, while Canada hit American-made vehicles with a 25% duty.
“Canada’s tariffs, Mr. Carney said, would exclude auto parts, and the country would still allow companies that make cars in Canada — Stellantis, Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota — to import vehicles built in the United States without paying tariffs.
Mr. Trump has also imposed 25 percent tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum.
Autos and auto parts are Canada’s largest export by value aside from oil and gas. Canada is the largest importer of cars and trucks made in the United States, and auto factories in Canada send upward of 90 percent of their production to the United States. Overall, trade in autos between the two countries tends to be balanced, though in some years the United States has a slight surplus,” wrote The New York Times.
With the largest manufacturing base in the United States and an economy deeply tied to international commerce, California stands particularly vulnerable to escalating trade tensions. Newsom labeled the federal tariff regime “the largest tax hike in our lifetime” and warned that the ripple effects could outlast the current administration.
“California is ready to talk,” Newsom said, hinting at a future where the state might pursue quasi-bilateral negotiations to maintain access to foreign markets—regardless of federal posture.
Some labor leaders, including United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who adamantly opposed Trump during the election, cautiously support the tariffs as a means to revive domestic manufacturing. But support is far from universal. Economists are warning of rising consumer prices, layoffs in export-dependent industries, and sharp increases in input costs for U.S. producers.
Financial markets registered those anxieties in real-time. On Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 2,200 points—more than 5.5%. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 followed with similar losses. Some have speculated that Trump is moving financial markets toward Treasury bonds in an effort to lower interest rates in an effort to refinance the trillions of dollars added to the national debt under Joe Biden.
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